General strike in Guinea

Guinea has
been rocked by a series of mass mobilisations and general strikes since the
beginning of the year. The strikes in January and February represent the high point in a series of
mobilisations that have taken place since the end of 2005.

In the space of a month and a half, from January 10 to February 27,
there were two massive general strikes in Guinea, which completely paralysed
the economy of the country for 33 days. This magnificent struggle of the
Guinean workers and youth caused panic, not only in dictator Lansana Conté's
entourage, but also in the ranks of French imperialism. The French ruling class
is one of the main causes of the horrifying misery the majority of Guinea's 9.4
million people endure. For decades they have pillaged the country, the world's
largest producer of bauxite, an aluminium ore, and covered up the crimes that
their corrupt dictatorship has committed against the people.

The crisis of
capitalism has absolutely dramatic consequences for the people of Africa. Famine is a constant threat, like the sword of
Damocles suspended by a thread swaying with the fluctuations of the world
economy. Angered by a rise in prices, in particular to the prices of fuel and
rice, the working class, the youth and the poor threw all their energy into the
struggle to defend their conditions of life.

The general strike in
January and February was the high
point in a series of mobilisations that have shaken
the country since November 2005. Between then and June 2006, the Guinean
workers have launched not less than three general strikes, called by the two
big trade union organisations, the USTG (Trade Union of the Workers of Guinea)
and the CNTG (National Confederation of Guinean Workers). The repression
against the strikes was ferocious: dozens were killed during the third strike
in June 2006. The hatred of the masses towards Lansana Conté, who has been in
power for 23 years, was at its height.

On January 10, a fresh
unlimited general strike began, called by the trade unions. The strike was
successfully observed. In the main cities, the banks, schools, the commercial
companies and offices were closed. The bauxite industry, the jugular vein of
the country, was paralysed. The workers demanded the resignation of Lansana
Conté and the lowering of prices.

At the beginning,
despite the power and intensity of the movement, the restricted perspectives of
the union leadership was revealed when they did not demand the pure and simple
departure of Lansana Conté, as the majority of the strikers so fiercely hoped.
Instead of this, they accepted negotiations with the dictator and the
nomination of a "consensus Prime Minister", who was supposed to take control of
the executive and "resolve the crisis".

Upon the promise of
such a nomination the leadership of the unions called for a return to work on
January 28. The workers returned to work. However, in the meantime, the police,
the army and the various "death squads" that the state controls committed
acts of bloody repression, killing more than 60 people. The number of arrests
and the cases of torture multiplied. As a gift for their moderation, the union
leaders were thrown in prison for a while. Upon leaving prison they went
straight to negotiate with their jailer, Lansana Conté! Such is the degree of
servility and corruption of the Guinean trade union apparatus, while immense
reserves of revolutionary energy were being demonstrated from below in the
ranks.

On February 9, the
news exploded like a bomb: Lansana Conté had named one of his closest aides,
and one of the most hated men by the population, Eugène Camara, as the
"consensus Prime Minister". Immediately, the revolt erupted amongst the forces
that, the day before, had stopped work believing in a promise of "change". The
youth rose up. Official buildings were burned, the presidential guard was
attacked with stones, and barricades were erected throughout Conakry, the capital. The turmoil amongst the
working class was such that the union leadership had to call for a fresh
general strike to begin on February 12.

Anger spread
throughout the army, and several soldiers were won over to the strike. To
prevent the army from shattering, Lansana Conté leaned increasingly on various
militias, who again began to kill strikers and demonstrators. In total, the
strikes in January-February cost the lives of 120 people - officially.

Isolated, Lansana
Conté could not rely on the army or Parliament, which, on February 23, rejected
his demand for an extension of the state of siege imposed at the time of the
resumption of the strike. Probably "advised" by the pragmatic and authoritative
hand of French diplomacy, which wanted a quick and sure way out of the crisis,
he was forced to replace his choice of Prime Minister, Eugène Camara, with a
technocrat imposed upon him: Lansana Kouyaté. The union
leadership, "satisfied", again called for a return to work on February
27.

Not a lot is known
about this new "consensus" Prime Minister. It is enough to hear the French
media praise, with their hand on their hearts, his "integrity" and his
"professionalism", to know that we are dealing with a servile lackey of French
imperialism. Besides, the man was trained at all of the "African
institutions" where France
has a strong influence.

As long as imperialism
dominates Guinea, as it does
most of Africa, its people will never find a
way out of misery. In the present epoch, that of the decline of imperialism,
this means the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a socialist
economy. The Guineans cannot accomplish these tasks without the aide of the
workers of the rest of the continent. The fate of Africa depends, to a large
degree, on the powerful working classes of the most industrialised countries of
the continent, especially in Egypt,
Algeria, Senegal, and Nigeria. The heroic struggle of the
Guineans will serve as an example. It will show the way forward. In the same
way that millions of destitute people live in Guinea
on the treasures of raw resources, so too do the people of Africa
die amongst inexhaustible material and human resources. But the revolutionary
wave which has spread from Latin America will end up sweeping across Africa - and these people that official history has
forgotten will end up cleansing this continent of all the oppression of world
capitalism.